Wednesday, April 18, 2012

No matter how basic or boring an ingredient or dish is, I can usually come up with something to pontificate on, but for this lovely braised red cabbage recipe, I’ve got absolutely nothing.

I could go on about how I’m not sure what that color red is called, but I did that in the video. I could joke about taking one for the team, and keeping this side dish purely vegetarian for a change, but there’s nothing funny about not adding bacon.

I could suggest a few easy ways to turn this into an amazing one-dish meal, by adding some smoked sausage or leftover pork ribs, but that’s probably so obvious that I’d be insulting your intelligence.

Or, I could have gone into a great, old prep cook anecdote about how I won $10 from a pastry chef in 1987 by juggling red cabbages on the hotline during service, but that would have meant making up the story, since it was actually cantaloupes.

No, I’m not going to mention any of that. I'll simply suggest that if you want an easy, gorgeous looking, and very tasty vegetable side dish, then you should give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4-6 portions:

2 tbsp butter

1 small Red cabbage, sliced thin, about a 1 1/4 pounds

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup red wine

2 tbsp red wine vinegar, or to taste

2 tbsp white sugar

pinch of caraway seeds

salt and pepper to taste

*Note: there are SO many ways to tweak this recipe! Raisins, currants, shallots, onions, leeks, apples, and pears are just a few things that rock in this recipe.

Braised Cabbage is my fave. Here in the Philippines, we make a sofrito, garlic, onions and tomatoes. Then crispy pork bits and small shrimps. Dump the sliced cabbage, season, and add some shrimp stock. Cilantro on top. Fantastic. Great suggestions Chef, sometimes pancetta or cooked bacon is ok too.

JOHN! Wine-red. someone said Burgandy! This is exactly what you get in Austria and Hungary with roasted duck and/or (in Austria) roasted pork. My wife is Austrian and was totally impressed :D She said her mother always added way more caraway seeds (in German: Kuemmel) and always started with a small onion... and occassionally when serving with pork, one roasted pork-crackling first as the starting oil to fry the cabbage. Often her grandmother would start out with a tablespoon of "schmalz". When i do this, i always serve it "al dente" style, however, traditionally here, it's served "lechio". One also used white wine here with a splash of vinager if needed! Thanks for showing this!

I just wanted to say thank you for your videos and your blog posts. I went from being a terrible "cook" to having my fiance look forward to my meals when I cook. You're fantastic at what you do. Thank you again!

Overheard you talking about your blog to the cashier at wholefoods today. I was the guy in the white, anchor brewing jumpsuit. Can't wait to try this braised red cabbage recipe! Look so easy and good. Definitely bookmarking your site.

Definately going to try this. We get into a little of a funk sometimes with veg, so this will be nice to throw into the mix. By the way, my Dunn-Edwards paint fan shows this color as being "Deep Magenta." Well done Painter/Chef/Color Master John!

Like some others, I grew up with a German mother and this dish was a staple every other week! I adore it and now that Mom's 91--and coming over tonight for Beef Rhouladen, red cabbage and potatoes--I thought it appropriate to offer my own suggestions on tweaking this!

I start with 1/4 lb of chopped bacon in a deep and heavy dutch oven. Once rendered, a small chopped onion goes in. Then, a finely sliced head of red cabbage--core removed. I pour roughly 2 cups of red wine and about 3/4 cup red-wine vinegar. About a Tbl of cloves is the flavor I've grown up with--not the caraway, 2-3 Tbl Brown Sugar, an apple--chopped; salt, pepper and braise for roughly 2 hrs. Then, to give it a neat texture and "tighten" it up--I grate a half of a potato into it just prior to serving. The starch thickens it beautifully!

I'm sorry but is there any substitution for the red wine. I don't drink and religiously I can not purchase or consume any alcoholic beverages. I'm trying to make this tonight hopefully you will be able to suggest something else..

Wow...I'm glad I just found this cause' I have a ton of red cabbage showing up in my garden! Will try your recipe as it's great like you said in a pinch for a side. Would like to try it with an apple and brown sugar 2nd time! Gracias